July 2015 News	News page		Archive

Home Repair or Purchase Funding Available through the Community Housing Impact and Preservation Program

Through a partnership with Washington-Morgan Community Action, the Cities of Marietta and Belpre have funds available through the Community Housing Impact and Preservation (CHIP) Program to help eligible homeowners make improvements to their homes. Improvements generally include: electrical, plumbing, heating systems and interior and exterior structural components.

The Community Housing Impact and Preservation (CHIP) Program is funded by the Ohio Development Services Agency and provides funding to local governments to improve and provide affordable housing for low- and moderate-income citizens. Through the program, grants are provided to eligible communities interested in undertaking housing-related activities, including necessary infrastructure improvements. The grants are awarded competitively and encourage a flexible, community-wide approach to strengthening neighborhoods through community collaboration.

There are 3 components available under the CHIP Program: Private Owner Rehabilitation, Home Repair and Down Payment/Rehabilitation.

The goal of Private Owner Rehabilitation is to provide financial assistance to homeowners (who must occupy the home) to correct substandard conditions so that homes are safe, healthy, durable, energy efficient and affordable. It is intended to address problems throughout the house. In most circumstances this means that the home's mechanical systems (electrical, plumbing and heating systems) and exterior and interior structural components (roof, walls, floors) will be repaired or replaced if they are substandard.

Funding is available to assist 1 homeowner in the City of Belpre with Private Owner Rehabilitation.

An average Private Owner Rehabilitation project invests about $25,000 in a home and the post-rehab home meets Ohio's Residential Rehabilitation Standards.

The goal of Home Repair is to provide households with limited financial assistance to correct one or two significant problems. Unlike Private Owner Rehabilitation, which addresses the entire home, the Home Repair component addresses only one or two specific problems that adversely affect health and safety.

In the City of Belpre, funding is available to assist 8 homeowners with Home Repair, investing up to $12,000.

The goal of Down Payment/Rehabilitation is to provide financial assistance to help households purchase a home (down payment assistance) and to correct issues with those homes through rehabilitation.

In the City of Marietta, funding is available to assist one household with Down Payment/Rehabilitation. Households must want to purchase a home in the City of Marietta.

Homeowners must be at or below 80% of the area median income ($38,700 for a family of three) to be income eligible.

All projects must be completed by October, 2015.

To apply for one of the components or for more information, call Washington-Morgan Community Action (Housing and Transportation) at 740-373-7671.